If I can't handle AP Physics C, does that mean I'm not cut out for Engineering?

Currently have a C in the class (B with the 5 points) and I went from loving Physics to hating it. I am probably going to drop the class next semester and rethink everything. I thought I loved Physics because last year, I pulled a pretty good score in Honors Physics. Now, I’m just sad. I’ve been thinking about becoming an engineer but after this whole debacle, I’m rethinking it. I doubt I’m ready for any Engineering. Thing is, I find that I’m studying and I get the concepts but when I get the test, I panic a bit. This happens with all tests. It’s only after I receive my tests that I realize what to do…

Sorry if someone asked this question, I couldn’t really find it. I’m just sick of Physics and I’m starting to look outside of Engineering.

It sounds like your issues are more about test anxiety and possibly study habits than Physics per se. Go see your guidance counsellor and ask for advice.

On a related note, if you do choose engineering, you’ll need to quickly end the idea that you should bail with a B in your pocket when the going gets tough. It’s a different game than high school where As are hard to come by and Cs really represent the average.

Hang in there. Don’t bail until you get more advice.

What math course are you currently taking? How comfortable are you with calculus? One issue at our high school with AP Physics C is that most students are taking calculus concurrently with the physics class. And often physics is ahead of the necessary calculus. And then the physics teacher tries to teach some of the calculus, and depending on the teacher, this may or may not work.

One of the big jumps from honors physics to AP Physics C is the dependence on Calculus. Are you trying to learn both at the same time? Is Physics ahead of Calculus? It may be more of an issue of not having a good background in Calculus yet, so you’re having difficulty doing the math. You may understand the concepts, but maybe don’t have enough experience in solving those types of problems.

I wouldn’t dismiss engineering completely yet. Make sure you can be comfortable with Calculus. You can still take Physics in college and be successful. You don’t have to do it all in High School.

Some of you must have had a very different experience with high school guidance counselors than I did. Mine was a moron.

@eyemgh

Thank you for your response. I do think I have test anxiety and I will talk to my counselor. And I guess I kinda made this thread when I wasn’t in my right mood. I’ll hang in for a while and try to pass the class for both semesters.

@krnBoston

First off, thank you for your advice. However, it’s not the calculus that’s hard for me. I can do derivatives and integrals easy. It’s more of how to dissect a problem, particularly a problem that doesn’t involve calc. I’m studying my butt off and when we get the homework, I end up having to Google how to solve a problem without a given variable. I’m pretty comfortable with Calculus, and it’s actually the non-calc questions that get me and there’s only one calculus-related question on each test. Also, yeah, apparently I made the mistake of taking Calc AB and not BC, which I hear goes well with the Physics C course.

The great thing about the course (and the only reason I have a passing grade) is that we have test corrections. And I’m also wondering if test corrections and curves are very common in these courses?

Test corrections and curves are becoming more common in high schools, but not something you’ll run into, at least the correct, return, up the score thing, in college.

As for the appropriateness of your Calc class, most schools won’t let you bypass AB directly into BC. If you get the calculus, that’s not the problem anyway.

Lastly, if your counselor isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, like @boneh3ad’s or is just plainly a tool, ask someone else. Start with your physics teacher.

Finally, remember this…life doesn’t end if you get a B (or a C or a D for that matter, all of which you’ll likely experience on tests and quizzes if you choose engineering).

Hang in there!

At our HS students take either Calc AB or BC. They don’t take AB followed by BC. I know many high school do it differently.

You’re better off that way if it’s an option. BC repeats much of what’s in AB.

My high school didn’t even offer Calulus BC, yet I did fine in Physics C. There isn’t really that much need for BC in that level of physics that I can recall.

Physics C may not require a lot of calculus, but a top engineering schools Physics 1 will. The new normal at some schools is to delay Physics 1 for non-ME majors to allow people to get calc background first (ideally Calc 2 which covers differentiation),

I am a big fan of googling to help solve difficult problems, it is not cheating (unless you find the same exact problem on line, copy it) or costing you learning opportunity (if you get a similar problem and understand the solution, now you have learned how to do 2 similar problems, the third one will be on the test … and you may be the one to get it right). Such fantastic resources, including college courses at top schools … Wikipedia actually as core equations for most things.

The goal of your Physics C class probably should be a decent grade for GPA and learning the material so you can easily ace Physics 1 in college. If you can get an A or 5, maybe you can skip it and graduate early (rare!).

We have math accelerated 2 years at the GT level (starting in 4th grade) so AB then BC is the norm. Doing it this way allows coverage of more Calc3 material which is good if you are taking that as your first college calculus class. A BC class that spends time reviewing AB seems like a big waste of time (maybe a bit of review of concepts in month before the test, series, etc). I think it is a bigger waste to take say 5th grade math that has no real objective and is the 3rd introduction to multiplication or whatever.

Calc ABC would imply almost 2+ semesters of college level math in one year with possibly a less skilled instructor …

Have this 2 year ahead class and then honors at 1 year ahead and on-class level classes also helps people find their level in HS (some people do tutor up and some people do drop down).

Slow speed of topics is part of why high school is easier and may be more effective to deeply ingrain math concepts. The ingrained ability to solve for differentials for example, makes the math in Physics much easier. And accelaration, velocity, position is a lot easier to understand once you have learned both A and B material well and gotten really familiar with all those cos / sin identities.

We’re off topic, but anyhoo, the way Calculus SHOULD be taught in high school and the way it IS taught are two different things. If it is taught for AP, College Board dictates the curriculum. The College Board AP Calc BC curriculum largely engulfs the AB curriculum. It is inefficient if students are required to take AB before moving to BC, but that’s the way it is at most schools that offer BC. I’m not sure why it’s that way, but I suspect that as @PickOne1 said, so many school systems offer early math tracking that kids can end up in BC. If they give the option of skipping AB, then they’d top out in Math as juniors. Also, it would make sense to teach a semester of A, B and C, but most high school math departments aren’t set up to deal with semesters. Then the question is, what do they teach for the last semester and how often do they need it. I suspect it’s more of a business and management decision than it is about what’s right from a pure math learning standpoint.

Calc 3 is pretty useful in some fields … not all. Again, there is a lot more math beyond that taught to engineers, DiffEQ and even linear algebra. Most graduate engineering programs require a really intensive math class that reviews dozens if not hundreds of ways to solve problems numerically. These are required when you start taking graduate level heat transfer, fluid flow, computational heat transfer, etc.

While Calc3 may not be directly applicable to many undergrad classes, the mastery involved in doing these difficult and algebra intensive problems will help you sharpen your math skills for your harder classes. And some engineering classes do imply that you understand a 3D object as a triple integral at least at a oh-gosh-I-am-happy-I-don’t-have to solve that problem level.

College Board business decision, I guess, 2 tests = $200.

Part of this is way more people are taking accelerated math curriculum, which I think is totally appropriate for high achieving kids, how many years did you sleep through math before it became interesting? BC seems like a logical way to add full coverage of Calc2 in HS and prepare for a Calc3 college class by introducing topics. Back in the 80s there was only one test, and it was hard to get Calc 2 credit for APCalc, seems like minimal arguments from schools on APCalcBC => 8 credits of calculus (some worriers still think it is risky to go into Calc3 as first math class at hard colleges, I think GTech just modified their curriculum to match AP course graduates skill sets and fill in some multivariate info that most AP classes do not cover.

I guess if my DD had only one year of CalcBC and a 4, I would worry more about Calc3 success.

If we need some percentage of really math skilled professional to design our high tech devices of the future and to find new mathematical algorithms … it makes sense to let these people run with their talents rather than sitting in the back row of 5th, 6th, 7th grade math playing with their cell phones because they are so bored. We have kids another year or more ahead of the 2year AP track … DiffEQ and beyond.

On the original topic …
I struggled with AP Physics B in HS, but thought the general physics classes at my university were a joke and made great grades in them. Granted I still don’t truly understand kinematics, but my major doesn’t deal with anything beyond basic Ek and Ep calculations, so it isn’t a problem for me.

if you are good in math and did well in honors physics you would be fine as an engineering student. I never took AP Physics but graduated with an EE degree…Remember, the colleges think it is a Freshman course, so the inability to master it as a Junior or senior is okay. However, would you be going to the tippy top engineering schools? Perhaps not. But can you major in engineering? yes.

I would suggest forming a study group, buying a book of extra problems to use to study with, and go to your teachers office hours. At this point you want to make sure you have a B as a final grade.